It has long been known to equip motor vehicles with cup holders in the center console or at other convenient locations. Current cup holder designs generally include rigid cup wells sized to accommodate the most common sizes and shapes of cups. Some of those wells are equipped with resilient fingers within the well that are adapted to grip a sidewall of a cup.
As a result of design limitations characteristic of rigid cup wells, tall, narrow cups may not be properly supported and may tip and spill during spirited driving or when driving on rough roadways. In contrast, wider cups may be overconstrained by the rigid well wall resulting in the possibility of the operator spilling the contents when the cup is removed or retracted from the cup holder in an uncontrollable jerky motion. Further, current cup holders generally do not include a complete lining to catch spills while being easily removed for cleaning.
This document relates to a self-adjusting cup holder assembly that will accommodate and properly hold a wider range of shapes and sizes of cups. The new cup holder assembly includes a flexible well that not only catches spills but is easily removed for cleaning. As such, the self-adjusting cup holder assembly disclosed herein represents a significant advance in the art.